Spring Storms: A Fred and George Tribute
by Kage Nightray
Summary: George has a fear of thunderstorms. Fred's way of helping doesn't change much over the years. Written in honor of the Weasley twins' thirty-fifth birthday. Mostly follows canon. Hints of slash.
1. Chapter 1

_April 1983_

A bright flash lit the room as the sound of thunder cut through the night. Fred heard a whimper coming from the area next to him on the bed. He instinctively wrapped his arms around his twin, pulling the slightly younger boy close as he stroked George's hair.

"Shh, Georgie, it's okay. Storm can't hurt us," Fred whispered, doing his best to calm his distraught twin. "Do you want me to get Mummy?" he asked hesitantly a moment later.

George frantically shook his head as grasped desperately at Fred's pajamas.

"Please don't leave me," he pleaded, whimpering as another crash of thunder sounded.

Fred drew George in closer.

"I promise I'll never leave you."

**AN: This takes place when they are five years old. Each subsequent addition will be five years after the previous one. I thought that would be a good way to split them up, since they just had their thirty-fifth birthday at the beginning of the month.**


	2. Chapter 2

_April 1988_

A whimper came from the other bed as the crack of thunder split the air. Fred wordlessly went over to his twin's bed, knowing that George would never come to him for comfort, even though this was what happened every time there was a storm.

In a way, Fred loved these storms, for even though they upset George, they were also the times when George was most honest, and would share anything that was bothering him. Fred treasured those moments, for it made him sad that his own twin was so shy and secretive around him.

He was brought out of his musings by another whimper from George, and he pulled his brother into a warm hug.

"Don't worry, George, it won't last too long. The storm will be over before you know it," he whispered comfortingly.

George's only reply was to tightly grasp his brother's nightshirt.

"Is there something else bothering you?" Fred asked gently, pulling away slightly to look his brother in the eye.

George started to shake his head, then hesitated. Fred had to strain to hear his brother's soft reply.

"We're going to Hogwarts next year after we turn eleven, right?"

"Of course we are. You know that," Fred replied, wondering what his twin meant by that.

"What if we don't get sorted into the same house?" George asked, sounding terrified at the idea.

Fred pulled his brother in closer. "Don't you worry about that, Georgie. We're Weasleys, and Weasleys always get sorted into Gryffindor, so there's nothing to worry about. We'll be together, always," he proclaimed, sounding very sure of himself.

"Promise?" George asked, sounding hopeful.

"I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

_April 1993_

Something was off with George. Fred knew it, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and that bothered him. He really wished that George would just tell him what was wrong, but knew that his twin only confided in him on stormy nights, when he was at his most vulnerable. So Fred waited, knowing that it couldn't be too long before another storm.

Sure enough, that night a storm came through, worse than any other they had endured in previous years. Once Fred was sure that the rest of their roommates were asleep, he quietly climbed into his twin's bed, wrapping his arms around his trembling brother.

"Shh, everything will be alright. I'm here now," he whispered soothingly, stroking his brother's hair. After a few minutes, when George's trembling had all but stopped, Fred decided finally ask the question that had been on his mind the past few weeks.

"George? Why have you been acting so oddly lately?" he whispered.

George stiffened, and tried to pull away. Fred just tightened his hold in response.

"C'mon Georgie, you can tell me anything. I would never betray your trust. I even still let Ron think that I was the one who turned his teddy bear into a spider all those years ago," Fred said, producing a brief chuckle from his twin.

After a moment's silence, interrupted only by another crack of thunder, George finally spoke.

"I've been seeing someone."

That was certainly not what Fred had been expecting. He felt hurt that his own twin would wait so long to share such news. Feigning nonchalance, he replied, "Oh really? And who might this lucky bird be?"

George remained quiet for another minute, causing Fred to wonder what he could possibly have said wrong this time.

"'ts not a girl."

"What?"

"I'm seeing another bloke, you idiot."

This further shocked Fred. How could he have possibly not noticed that his own twin was gay? And why had George never said anything earlier?

"Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"About the dating?"

"Well, that too, but I was talking about the liking blokes thing. We're supposed to share everything with each other. That's what twins are for, right?" Fred asked, sounding distraught until George cut off his rambling.

"I was scared. Didn't really know how you felt about gay people. Just didn't want you to hate me," he mumbled, hiding his tear-filled eyes from his brother's view.

Fred hugged his twin tighter. "I could never hate you, George. You're my other half, remember? I would be lost without you."

George finally let the tears fall, not really caring whether or not his brother noticed anymore.

"Really? You'll never hate me, no matter what?"

"No matter what."


	4. Chapter 4

_April 1998_

Even before the first flash of lightning, Fred was already on his way to his twin's room. It was still odd to him, having separate rooms. They had shared a room for so long... It was only the past two years that they hadn't. He didn't understand why George had insisted on separate rooms, he knew George never had anyone come over, and he always went to Angelina's.

He pushed these musings aside as he climbed in bed next to his brother, wrapping his arms around the distraught man. He stayed silent for a moment, just trying to calm his twin, before asking a question that had been bothering him for years.

"George, if you hate thunderstorms so much, why don't you just come to me instead of trying to suffer through on your own?"

George smiled up at him, though the fear was still evident on his face.

"Because you promised you'll always be there for me. And you've never broken that promise."

Fred realized then that he was wrong in thinking that his brother didn't trust him, as he had always believed. It was a reasonable assumption, why else would his twin never willingly share secrets? But Fred now knew that George never shared his secrets because he knew that Fred would come asking at some point, and there was no need to say anything before he asked.

"What if something happened, where I couldn't be there for you?"

George froze, then his shoulders started shaking as he repressed his tears.

"Georgie, there's a war going on. Something could happen to one of us," Fred continued, hating the pain he was causing his twin, but knowing that it was something that had to be said.

"If something happened, you'd still be with me, though. Here," George said, placing a hand over his heart as tears streamed down his cheeks, "so I would be okay. I could survive."

The two were quiet for a few minutes after that, the only sounds being the crack of thunder outside and George's sobs. Fred was crying too, tears silently sliding down his cheeks.

"George, can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"If... if something does happen to me, can you look after Angie for me?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Can you promise me something, though?"

"Anything."

"If something happens to me, bury me next to him?"

"I will."

"Thanks, Freddie."

"Anytime, Georgie."


	5. Chapter 5

_April 2003_

The crack of thunder split the night as George curled up, alone, beneath his covers. There was no Fred to comfort him anymore, he had been gone for almost five years.

He could hear Angelina in the other room, comforting the children. They were only four, of course they were scared of thunderstorms. He was glad that she did not know they scared him too, it would only make her more disgusted with him.

He knew she resented him, for surviving instead of Fred. Of course she would want Fred, the two loved each other. He, too, wished that he would have died in Fred's place. If he had, then Fred could be the one married to Angelina, he could be the one raising his adorable little twins. Instead, George had married Angelina, who had been scared of being a single mother and raising Fred's children alone. So George had married her, for the sake of Fred's children. He hated lying to them, and everyone else, but he would tell them the truth one day. Not now, they wouldn't understand now, but when they were older, perhaps after they took their OWLs. He apologized to Fred, again and again, for not telling his children the truth of their parentage. Perhaps someday, they would forgive him.

"I miss you, Fred. I wish you could come back."


	6. Chapter 6

_April 2008_

He could hear their whimpers from the next room over, and knew that he should do something about it. After all, they were probably even more terrified of thunderstorms than he was. But he was frozen from fear.

Poor Freddy and Roxy. They deserved so much better than he could give them, particularly now that Angelina was gone. He just didn't know how to be a good parent. He wished that he knew how to take care of his twin's children, but he just didn't know what to do.

Calling upon every ounce of his Gryffindor courage, George dragged himself out of bed and walked into the next room, where Freddy and Roxy were curled up together in the same bed, shaking in fear. He climbed into bed next to them and pulled them both into a comforting hug, just as Fred had done for him so many times before.

"Dad?" Roxanne said, her voice shaking.

"I thought it might help if I stayed here with you two. You don't like the storms, right?" George said, sounding a little uncertain.

The room was silent for a moment, until another flash of lightning brought the crash of thunder. The twins let out a small scream, squeezing their arms around George's middle. He tightened his hug, just as he remembered Fred doing for him.

A few minutes later, the twins were starting to fall asleep. Just as George was starting to follow them into unconsciousness, he heard a small voice coming from his right.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime, Freddy."

**AN: Just one more part left~ It should be posted sometime tomorrow**


	7. Chapter 7

_April 2013_

Fred and Roxanne heard a whimper coming from George's bed as another crash of thunder echoed in the night. They wordlessly padded over to the bed and climed in, one on each side of the man who had raised them.

"Fred? Roxy? Wha-"

"We know you're scared of thunderstorms, and that Father used to comfort you during them, so we thought we'd help this time," Roxy interrupted as she and her brother wrapped their arms around George.

He in turn relaxed at first, then stiffened as he processed that they had just referred to his Fred as 'Father'.

"How did you know?" he hoarsely whispered, shocked.

"He told Roxy," Fred replied simply, as though it was perfectly obvious.

"What?"

"In that Quidditch accident last month, when I was in a coma, I saw him. He talked to me, told me about the war, and about him and Mum, and about you. He told me about the thunderstorms, about your late boyfriend, everything. You know, it's really sad to me that we've been raised by you, and yet we still don't know you.

"We want to know you, Daddy. You have to let us in. Please?"

The desperate, pleading tone in Roxanne's vvoice hurt George. He hadn't realized how badly he was hurting the two people that meant the world to him.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to shut you two out... you guys are my reason for living, the only reason I didn't just give up after my twin's death. I love you two."

His twin tricksters hugged him tighter.

"We know. We love you two, Daddy."

* * *

When the next flash of lightning lit up the room, George did not flinch.

When the sound of thunder broke the silence, he did not whimper.

He finally felt at peace with himself, he no longer feared the storm.

There was nothing to fear.

With that thought, he slipped into a deep, dreamless, peaceful sleep, content with the knowledge that his twins would still love him no matter what.


End file.
